MicroRNA is a large class of small non-coding RNA， and miR-181b is one of the four members of the miR-181 family. In recent years， it has been found that miR-181b is closely related to the occurrence and development of multiple diseases， which could possibly to become the potential biomarker and intervention target. This article reviews the progress in the research on the expression level and the role of miR- 181b in schizophrenia， nervous system diseases， cardiovascular diseases， malignant tumors and other diseases， which may help scholars fully understand the role of miR-181b in the diseases and provide a new way for clinical diagnosis and treatment.